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Channing Frye helped unify Cavs locker room after being acquired in trade

When Channing Frye was traded to the Cavaliers, he had no regard for any locker room cliques. 
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The midseason addition of Channing Frye also apparently helped the Cavaliers off the court. 

Frye was acquired from the Magic in a three-team deal in February and became a key piece of the Cleveland bench down the stretch and in the playoffs. According to a cover story by SI’s Lee Jenkins in this week’s Sports Illustrated, he also helped bring the team together. 

Cleveland blitzed the Eastern playoffs and dissolved locker-room cliques, thanks in part to a new addition. Power forward Channing Frye, acquired from the Magic at the trading deadline, either didn’t know about the subgroups or didn’t care. He ate with everybody, included everybody on group texts, and dinner reservations expanded to 15.

LeBron James chases the ghost from Chicago and basketball immortality

The road to the championship was rocky at times for the Cavs. Head coach David Blatt was fired during the season, and the roles of Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving were questioned. In March, LeBron James caused a stir with some cryptic tweets and by unfollowing the Cavs on Twitter.

“He was off his rocker for a little while,” James’s business partner Maverick Carter told Jenkins in June. “He’s a perfectionist. He likes everything perfect, and he knew this team could be better.”